Volvo Cars keyless technology

The key to a simpler life

In a revolutionary move, Volvo Cars aims to become the world’s
first car manufacturer to offer cars without keys. Curious?

The news that Volvo Cars are planning to introduce keyless cars will come as music
to the ears of anyone who has ever spent a morning frantically searching for the keys
they misplaced the night before. But the move towards keyless cars isn’t just for the
benefit of the absent-minded among us. It is actually part of an innovative, long-term
plan to make owning a Volvo simpler and more convenient in the future.

Smart and stress-free

In late 2015, with just days to go before Black Friday and Cyber Monday – the busiest online
shopping days of the Christmas season – Volvo Cars unveiled a smart new way of taking some of the
stress out of shopping: Volvo In-car Delivery. Volvo In-car Delivery enabled Volvo owners to order their
Christmas goods online and then arrange to have them delivered directly to their cars instead of their
home. Delivery companies were issued with a digital key, which granted couriers one-time access to
the customer’s car. This meant Volvo owners were able to avoid the less enjoyable aspects associated
with holiday shopping, such as searching for a parking space, navigating bustling crowds of
stressed-out people and the disappointment of coming home to a missed delivery.

But there’s no reason why digital key technology should only be used for deliveries when it opens
up so many other possibilities – especially when it comes to service and repair. In the future, instead
of taking time out of your day to drive to the workshop for a service, our technicians could collect your
car using a digital key, carry out your service and have your car ready and waiting for you when you
finish work. Now, Volvo Cars has taken the concept of keyless technology one step further and
unveiled plans to become the world’s first car manufacturer to offer cars without keys.

A greater flexibility

Instead of a physical key, Volvo customers will be offered an app that transforms their mobile phone
into a unique digital car key. This digital key will be capable of doing everything a physical key does,
such as locking and unlocking the doors and starting the engine, but it will also allow Volvo drivers to
enjoy greater flexibility. For example, if a family member, friend or co-worker wanted to borrow your car,
you could send the digital key to them via their mobile phone instead of having to deliver it by hand.
Renting a car could also become easier as you could use the app to book and pay for a rental car
anywhere in the world. The digital key could then be delivered directly to your phone. This new
technology also means Volvo drivers could receive more than one digital key, which would let them
access different cars in different locations. So, instead of sitting idle all day, cars could be used more
efficiently by whoever the owner wishes. It seems the possibilities presented by keyless technology
are endless! With the introduction of Volvo Cars’ pioneering digital key technology, it looks like the
days of desperately searching through bags, coats and trouser pockets for that elusive set of
car keys could soon be over.